Announcing 2012 Trip Dates

We'll have teams traveling back to Haiti during the following dates in 2012, May 4-12 and October 19-27.  We hope you can be a part of them!  To learn more or to reserve your spot, please contact Dea Taylor at deascogin@gmail.com or 281.788.0999.  Space is limited.

Coming Soon: Embrace Haiti Christmas Donation Cards

If you would like to make a donation to Embrace Haiti on behalf of a loved one this Christmas season, please contact Julie Trushenski at rjtrushen@aol.com to make your contribution and to order your donation card(s).

Experiences Not Soon Forgot (October 2011 Trip)

How do you begin to describe one of the best weeks of your life by trying to squeeze it in to a few short paragraphs?  That's the problem -- words can't do justice to the experience that Haiti gives you. 

I've said it before and I will say it again: people go to Haiti thinking they are going to work on Haiti, but the reality is Haiti ends up working on you!  First, you lay judgement aside and then allow yourself to see the people instead of the poverty.  The people are lovely, respectful, strong and resilient.  Through it all they continue to carry on and we can certainly learn a lot from them.

Two and a half years after I first visited this remote village and saw a sense of dispair and hopelessness, I returned this month to find seeds of hope and smiles on kids faces.  One in particular wouldn't stop smiling...

A few highlights include...We helped paint the new community building that currently serves as both a church and a school for 50 children.  We started a new latrine on the school grounds and delivered 200 packs of seeds to help support the community co-op garden.

We visited people in and around the village in an effort to build relationships.  During those visits we encountered a woman who had just given birth to her baby at home in her hut three days prior.  What a joy to see the baby and congratulate her on her precious gift! 

We also met a 65 year old woman who raised 10 children, having all gone off to school and she now cares for her elderly neighbors -- just the way community was intended.

Outside the village we saw walls going up around a church that our partners, New Life Haiti, help support.  The construction was made possible through a gift from Church Project in The Woodlands, TX.  Our team also was invited to help deliver food to elderly shut-ins, which was a powerful experience.  We visited a new hospital for spinal cord patients, many of whom were injured in the 2010 earthquake, then we walked through a Cholera Clinic to learn about what can and is being done to treat victims.  Finally, we got to visit the special needs orphanage and see Baby Grace, a mircle baby who survived a severe case of hydrocephalus and is now all smiles.

Another important part of our trip was looking for ways to help connect people in need to whatever local resources may be available.  Baby Modelin from our village was born with a cleft palate.  Through the efforts of our partnership and Mr. Len Morris, he was able to get the first surgery done to close his lip, however was not strong enough for the second surgery to close his palate.  We found a resource for him in Children of The Promise where he has since been taken in and will be cared for until he is strong enough for the next surgery.  It seemed so clear that he wouldn't make it if his severe malnutrition was left unchecked.  Modelin's parents have hope for him and so do we.

During our trip we took time to meet with all of our Haitian staff who keep things going year round.  It helped us gain insight in to how things work and what things should change.  This included the Pastor, Community Development Liasion, Teachers, Cooks, and Nurse.  We also had the unique opportunity to meet with people who participate in the community co-op garden and a large group of men in whom we recognized some pivotal changes ocurring.  Our goal is to come alongside this community to help them identify their strengths and abilities to affect changes based on their own will and determination.  Change from the inside out, if you will.  Holistic and lasting changes they themselves will continue to carry forward.  Last month these men met with an organization called Plant With Purpose (Floresta Ayiti) whose job it was to assess the village for the potential for economic and agricultural growth.  The men's response when we talked with them was a simple thank you for helping them see how they could work together and for bringing them closer to God.  It was the breakthrough we had hoped for and a powerful message from the village leaders.

Despite all the encouraging things we witnessed during this week, we know there is still much work ahead.  In the coming months we hope to build a new kitchen (the old one hardly qualifies as a kitchen!), connect with groups who might be able to help build a bridge over the river that isolates villagers during the rains, start an adult education class for the illiterate men and women in the community, and explore ways to get more of the village kids in school.  There are an estimated 70 kids who are not attending school, but after researching the National School we have learned that with a simple uniform and school books/supplies, many of these kids could be admitted.  I hope people feel empowered by knowing that $100 could send a child in Haiti to school for a year!

The Embrace Haiti team is made up of many people just like you who give their time, talents, and wisdom to a project that wouldn't be what it is without them.  We are eternally grateful!

God Bless,

Dea Taylor

A Unique Experience: Mosaic Class Benefiting Embrace Haiti

Embrace Haiti is offering a special Mosaic Class on Wed, July 27 from 10:00 – 12:00 at TWUMC. It will be taught by a talented artist, Shelley Alexander, whose work has been displayed at TWUMC, and in conjunction with Art with Vision. Anyone who registers a week in advance can also receive free childcare via the church nursery. The cost of the class is $25 and ALL the proceeds go to support our efforts in Haiti.



Click this link to learn more and register online:


http://www.thewoodlandsumc.org/news/2011-06-21/mosaic-class

Announcing Our October 2011 Trip

The dates have been set for our next trip to Haiti.  It will be October 7-15, 2011.  If you are interested or have questions, please contact Jane Jordan, 281.297.5900 or jjordan@twumc.org

The team will spend time in the village of Bayaha, helping with the school and working with the children.  Some painting and planting may be involved, as well.  The team will also visit and assist with a new orphanage that is currently under construction.  There will be opportunities to bond with the local Haitians and share the love of Jesus. 

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait...

Specifically, a ROOF, and it is up!

 Rafters up; before and after of the old school and now the new!

 A sight for sore eyes!

 Americans and Haitians have collaborated on the construction of the new school.

One word: Hallelujah!

It took quite a bit longer than expected, but the roof is finally up on the village community building.  Speaking of expected, we never expected many of the things that have happened in the past two years, but none of the challenges have deterred us or derailed the vision for this village - the vision to educate the children and transform the village.

Come this Fall, 50 school children will be attending classes in an actual school building for the first time.  As they leave their thatched canopy - the only school they have ever known - behind, we are excited to see what God has in store for this community and how many more children will be educated within the walls of this new building. 

It's not finished, much still needs to be done, but progress has been made and progress will continue so long as we all collectively work together, sharing, giving, sacrificing, and loving the people of Bayaha.  They have hope for a better future.  Pray God uses us to that end.  He is the only thing that has got us this far and He is our one true hope!

Another LWI Health & Hygiene Training

LWI Health & Hygiene Training will be offered in The Woodlands on August 5-6 and again on November 18-19.  Learn more and sign-up at http://water.cc/living-water/health-and-hygiene/

Living Water Health & Hygiene Training

LWI Health & Hygiene Training will be offered in The Woodlands on February 18-19.  Learn more and sign-up at http://water.cc/living-water/health-and-hygiene/